The Criterion Collection Complete

JENKINS, Barry (United States) The Underground Railroad [2021] Spine #1223 Blu-ray A monumental reimagining of American history, Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 2016 novel is a harrowing and rhapsodic journey through a still-echoing past. Weaving together historical fiction with moments of magical realism,  The Underground Railroad  is a full sensory immersion into the world of Cora (Thuso Mbedu), who, fleeing slavery, embarks on a treacherous quest for freedom—and is menaced by violence, supported by a clandestine community fighting for liberation, and haunted by the people she loses along the way. With images of searing power and stirring poetry, Jenkins delivers an epic saga of survival and resilience that pushes the limited-series format to new heights of cinematic transcendence. 585 minutes Dolby Atmos Color 1:78:1 and 2:39:1 Criterion Release 2024 Director/Writer Barry Jenkins  was 42 when he directed The Underground Railroad...

FERNÁNDEZ, Emilio (Mexico) Victims of Sin [1951] Spine #1222 Blu-ray A treasure of Mexico’s cinematic golden age, this deliriously plotted blend of gritty crime film, heart-tugging maternal melodrama, and mambo musical is a dazzling showcase for iconic star Ninón Sevilla. She brings fierce charisma and fiery strength to her role as a  rumbera— a female nightclub dancer—who gives up everything to raise an abandoned boy, whom she must protect from his ruthless gangster father. Directed at a dizzying pace by filmmaking titan Emilio Fernández, and shot in stylish chiaroscuro by renowned cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa amid smoky dance halls and atmospherically seedy underworld haunts,  Victims of Sin  is a ferociously entertaining female-powered noir pulsing with the intoxicating rhythms of some of Latin America’s most legendary musical stars. 84 minutes Monaural Black and White in Spanish 1:37:1 Criterion Release 2024 Director/Writer Emilio Fernández was 47 when he direct...

FASSBINDER, Rainer Werner (Germany) Querelle [1982] Spine #1221 Blu-ray Conjured from the unholy meeting of two iconoclastic queer artists, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film audaciously raises Jean Genet’s controversial novel to the level of myth. In an expressionistic soundstage vision of a French seaport town—bathed in fiery reds and complete with phallic spires—a strapping sailor and unrepentant criminal (Brad Davis) comes ashore to arouse passion, rivalry, and violence among the libidinal denizens drawn into his orbit. Enacted with dreamlike stylization by a cast of international stars, including Jeanne Moreau and Franco Nero,  Querelle  finds Fassbinder pushing his taboo-shattering depiction of gay desire to delirious extremes. 108 minutes Monaural Color 2:35:1 Criterion Release 2024 Director/Writer Rainer Werner Fassbinder  was 37 when he directed Querelle. Other Fassbinder films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 39: Love is Colder than Death (1969) Eclipse Ser...

WACHOWSKI, Lana and WACHOWSKI, Lilly (United States) Bound [1996] Spine #1220 Blu-ray Before they blew the world’s mind with  The Matrix,  Lana and Lilly Wachowski delivered a jolt of pure pulp pleasure with their hyperstylish debut, which puts a deliciously sapphic spin on a crackerjack caper premise. When butch plumber Corky (Gina Gershon) catches the eye of alluring femme (fatale) Violet (Jennifer Tilly), little does she know she’s about to be drawn into both a torrid affair and a high-stakes heist that will pit the pair against the mob. With crackling dialogue, luscious neonoir cinematography, and live-wire performances by Gershon, Tilly, and Joe Pantoliano,  Bound  is a genre-reimagining joyride that keeps both the tension and the erotic heat rising through each crazily careening twist. 108 minutes 5.1 Surround Color 1:85:1 Criterion Release 2024 Director/Writer Lana Wachowski was 31 and Lilly Wachowski was 29 when they directed Bound. The Film a Film Rating ...